Open 13 Marseille *spoilers*

Berdych lost to Stepanek (5-7, 4-6). [Come on, Berdych. It's time to get it together and get some points.]

I was hoping for a rematch between Berdych and Nadal. It could have been a good match. Anyway the tournament draw seems quite interesting (a possible match with Gasquet, though he hasn't played well this year).

It will be exciting and interesting to see how Nadal's comeback goes and how Baghdatis recovers/backs up after the run at the AO.

Johansson made a weird choice of comeback tournament. He should fare better on indoor hard court and considering that he won last year, he should've tried Marseille instead of San Jose.
He lost to a qualifier in 3 sets there.

Johansson made a weird choice of comeback tournament. He should fare better on indoor hard court and considering that he won last year, he should've tried Marseille instead of San Jose.
He lost to a qualifier in 3 sets there.

Hmm...Rochus is playing tough against Nadal.
He took the first set. (I missed the first set, shouldn't have given up on the web cast too early) But Nadal is up a break in the second. Is it inevitable that Rochus lose in three?

Just came in for the last couple of Nadal games..but did see davydenko, and the doubles if i had wanted to. The sound disappeared for a bit, then came back. I have a dial-up, so I don't know why you were having trouble.

Was it just me, or was the quality of the webcast stellar this morning for the first match, and then steadily got worse? I guess as more people logged in? By the time the Nadal match rolled around I couldn't see the ball at all.

A lot of nerves showed from both players. Nadal seemed to be a little rusty and occasionally didn't use the good shot selection (too much concerned about finishing the points early, maybe he's thinking a little too much about playing on hard and being aggressive, just like hard court specialists are too much concerned about the clay style of play). But the good news is that his serve worked well at the crucial times (e.g. on his match points and one for Rochus). Well, a win is a win. Not so bad start for Nadal.

Rochus choked and/or his legs seemed gone at the third set. Footwork went too sloppy especiall when the ball was hit near/to him. Still it's always amazing to watch how he hits his backhand (usually over/around the shoulder). It must be a tough loss for him. He lost a big chance.

I was shocked at how good it looked this morning, but then it went downhill. Just seeing if it happened to anyone else. Still, no complaints here, hell, I was happy just watching the live scoreboard, so this is off the chain.

Yeah, the Nadal fans were accessing the webcast (which we didn't advertise on the homepage for that reason). They crashed our Messageboard and also our server, so our ISP suspended our account. :-(

Rafa has lost some weight -- he mentioned it in an interview. And in fact the weight loss is one of the things recommended by his trainer and doctors to put less stress on his feet and knees. So it actually was planned.

Yeah, the Nadal fans were accessing the webcast (which we didn't advertise on the homepage for that reason). They crashed our Messageboard and also our server, so our ISP suspended our account. :-(

Rafa has lost some weight -- he mentioned it in an interview. And in fact the weight loss is one of the things recommended by his trainer and doctors to put less stress on his feet and knees. So it actually was planned.

If it helps him to minimize the stress in his feet and ankles, it's certainly the right decision. Don't think a little weight loss will effect his power significantly.

Click to expand...

I don't the power has been affected -- it's more about minimizing the impact on his knees and feet, as you said.

The power is all in his arms, and those seem just fine. And as for his movement, this is a really cool quote from Santoro's ATP blog today:

"This morning I practiced with Rafael Nadal. . . . I spoke to him for a while and he's very excited and nervous to be back on the tour. I think he has something in his shoes to help his foot problem. It was interesting to see how he's moving and he looks to me to be at 100 percent. I think he's got big expectations this week."

allez~ grosjean! you cannot go down without a fight (broke back in the 3rd set).
monfils needs to learn how to pull the trigger....he needs a little more french flair other than whistling before the swing. Of course, he is athletic, has a long reach and covers court well to be a good grinder, but why not use the shots he has instead defending all the time?

Yeah, Grojean was more aggressive and tried to win points. I just don't like the lack of imagination in Monfils.. He needs to put some pace and intention into the shots instead of just pushing it back hoping others to miss...Maybe mixing his mentality with Gasquet would make a good middle ground (except for the mental toughness, neither seems to have a good one)